The Osceola times., 1887-01-15

appeared, the shadows or evening fell,
and / heard nothing Of him. knew
then that he would not come at all, as
it would be risking his life to enter the
jungle after sundown.
The pool was in the center Of a clear
ed space about half an acre in extent
and the ground was uneven. As there
was no such thing as a creek or riyulet
In the neighborhood, the pool must
have been formed by a spring which
bubbled up among the rocks. Darkness
had scarcely come when the moon
came up to make the cleared space al
most as light as day, and about the
same time the wild beasts began tc
move about. could hear them snarL :
ing and growing on all sides, and To-
Gated jaguar in a tree not far removed
from mine by his continual snarling at
something in the jungle. | moved
about to get a better look, and suddenly
lost my grasp on the gun, and had the
modification of hearing il strike the
ground below with heavy crash. My
idea was to get possession of it again as
soon as possible, and | had descended at
least half way when there was snarl
from the roots of the tree which brought
my hair on end. recognized tle pres
ence of tiger, who might have been
waiting there for five minutes for all
knew. As hurried back to my perch
| heard his sharp claws tearing at the
bark, and | was truly thankful for the
knowledge that he could not climb. As
/ reached my perch | drew my knife as
the only weapon left me, and the tiger,
feeling that | had escaped him for the
moment, walked out into the bright
moonlight with deliberate step, looked
up at me with a low growl, and then
stood ~ the edge Of the pool and lap
ped the water. He was engaged at
this when | heard a loud ''woofl'' from
the Jungle, and the next instant rhi-
noceros broke cover and came charg-
ing at the tiger with rush that would
have knocked down a stone wall. His
movement proved that he was bad
rhinoceros, and it was probably this
fellow who had annoyed and excited
the jaguar. ,..t
The tiger had warning enough as the
big beast came across the open, and he
stood in his tracks until / thought he
would be run down before he moved q
foot. Then he lightly sprang aside,
and the rhinoceros crashed into the
pool, out on the other side, and came
numbering back with scarcely halt in
his gait The tiger was waiting for him
about twenty feet from the edge of the
basin. He was crouched for Il spring,
and his tail moved in menancing way
The big beast uttered another "woofn'
and went for him with head down and
teeth grinding. just at the right in.
slant the tiger rose and sailed righ,
over his enemy like ball curving in
the air, and the rhinoceros passed on
for thirty feet before he could check
himself. Again the tiger was in wait
ing, and now he uttered continuous
purring, as the affair was great sport 70
him. As soon as the rhinoceros got
eyes on him he charged again, and this
time the tiger lighted on his back and
chung there. The big fellow stood still
for moment, and then began gallop-
ing around in a circle and giving utter
ance to snorts of rage. 1t struck me
all at once that | ought to take advan-
tage Of the situation to secure my gun.
! started to descend, but it seemed that
the tiger had his eye on me. He left
the back of tho rhinoceros and cam,
for me with great bounds, and | mado
haste back to my perch. The rhinoc
eros followed him 10 the tree and for
ten minutes perseyered in his attacks,
the tiger now growing and showing
his teeth and evidently becoming an
noyed He several times leaped to the
back of the beast and clawc,t at him in
the fiercest manner, but | doubt if he
inflicted any injury through the tough
hide. The rhinoceros stepped on the
stock of my rifle and crushed it, and I
knew then was doomed TO an all-night
watch on the platform, with only the
knife to defend myself.
After ten 5r fifteen minutes Of hard
work, without accomplishing any thing
in the way of besting the tiger, the
rhinoceros got some sense In his head
and moved on into the Jungle, where
he thrashed about in an ugly way for a
long time. The tiger soon showed by
his actions that he wanted me very
badly. He uttered furious growls,
clawed at the bark Of the tree, and
made several springs which brought
him within arms length of the plat
form. He had just fallen back from
one of these bounds when he uttered a
sound SO unlike all others which had
preceded it that my attention was at
once attracted. l made out in an in
slant that he had been seized by large
serpent. For aught knew. the snake
may have been curled on one of the
great lower limbs of my own tree.
There were plenty of dead leaves and
other refuse under the tree. and the
parties to the struggle kicked up such
a cloud of stuff that | could not always
get clear view of them. made out
that the snake, which was probably
boa, had succeeded in getting turn or
two around the tiger, while the latter
was using his teeth and claws in the
most vigorous manner to free himself
They rolled about for three or four min